Really. What's up with this Thomas fellow?

We love to call him Doubting Thomas when perhaps we should call him "Straight Shooter" Thomas, or maybe even (stealing from the current commercial) Captain Obvious Thomas.

Who knows exactly what Thomas was thinking when he got back to the secret room where all the disciples were holed up in fear?  They claimed to have seen Jesus.  I think Thomas had his doubts about their sobriety.  So he says what he .....and might I add, almost anyone else who would have been in his position....is thinking.  Show me the evidence.  Show me wounds.  Let me touch this Jesus you have seen.

It is easy to 'hear' the tone of this exchange as hostile, disbelieving.  But what if it was sorrowful?  What if Thomas speaks gently just as one would speak to a child who sees monsters under the bed and ghosts in the closet?  What if Thomas is preoccupied with figuring out what he is going to do next?

There is no need to make Thomas out to be weak or dense or confrontational.  He could have been, but he could have been so many other things as well.  There is one thing we know for certain:  Thomas was not at peace.  We know this because it was the first gift Jesus offers to him.

"Peace be with you."

It is Jesus' starting point with every disciple.  Peace; and it is a gift from God.  Jesus does not bring answers to all our questions or fulfillments of all our hopes, dreams and prayers.  Jesus brings peace.

Not everyone values this gift from Jesus.  Certainly Thomas faced the exact same dilemmas he had 5 minutes ago.  The Romans are still in power, Jesus was considered a criminal, Jesus' body had disappeared and it was a good guess that the disciples were going to be blamed.  There was a great deal of fear, uncertainty, and disappointment to work through.

But now Thomas faced all those difficulties having received the gift of peace through Christ.

How many times have you seen some parody of a beauty contest where the contestant's goal is world peace?  It's laughable.

Unless, of course, you are in the presence of the crucified and risen Jesus.....and he offers Peace to you as a gift.  In that moment, it all seems a wee bit more believable.